Wihəs

Wihəs [ˈwìhəʃ]
Period	-200 ÷ 200 YP
Spoken in	Western Tuysáfa
Total speakers	c. 500.000
Writing system	unknown
Classification	Leic
Typology
Basic word order	SVO
Morphology	agglutinative, fusional
Alignment	neutral (nouns), accusative (verbs)
Credits
Created by	Pole, the

Wihəs (the tongue), also known as Yòiñə eiw our speech or Wimoañə eiw speech of Wimoañtə, is one of the Leic languages. It was the first Leic language published.

See also: the lexicon, the CBBCR VI text.

Background

It is spoken in the western part of Tuysafa, in an area neighbouring Wendoth languages to the west, Vijiš to the south, Pyvyy to the north and Endayin and Arósen tayīgan to the east.

Speakers of Wihəs call themselves Wimoañtə (singular: Wimo).

Phonology

Consonants

	labial	dental	palatal	velar	pharyng.	glottal
nasal	/m/	/n/	/ɲ/ ‹ñ›
stop	/p/	/t/		/k/		[ʔ] ‹‘›
fricative			/ʃ/ ‹s›			/h/
sonoric		/r/ /l/	/j/ ‹y›	/w/	/ʕ/ ‹x›

• [ʔ] ‹‘› appears epenthetically between two vowels.
• /h r l/ do not appear word-initially.
• /ɲ/ is pronounced [ŋ] in some dialects.
• /ʕ/ is actually pronounced [ɰˤ] or [ʁˤ] in most varieties.

Vowels

Monophthongs

	front	central	back
close	/i/		/u/
mid	/e/	/ə/	/o/
open		/a/

Diphthongs

	front	central	back
centering	/eə/ ‹ea›		/oə/ ‹oa›
front-closing	/eɪ/ ‹ei›	/aɪ/ ‹ai›	/oɪ/ ‹oi›
back-closing		/aʊ/ ‹au›

Syllables

(C)(C)V(C) type syllables are permitted.

The word stress is always initial. It can bear either high or low tone. However, the two do not always contrast:

• It is always low after /w ʕ/ and after stop-nasal and stop-sibilant consonant clusters.
• It is always high after /p t k/.
• After /m n ɲ ʃ j/ and null-onsets it can be either — high tone is unmarked and low tone is marked by grave accent.

The tone contrast after null-onsets has been neutralized in some dialects. In some earlier works, the low tone in such position is not marked. (E.g. àmuw indeed can be written as amuw.)

A vowel can be preceded by one of /j w/. Sequences of two glides are prohibited, however.

Consonant clusters

Permitted consonant clusters include:

	-p	-t	-k		-m	-n	-ñ	-s
p-	pp	pt	pk		pm	pn	pñ	ps
t-	tp	tt	tk		tm	tn	tñ	ts
k-	kp	kt	kk		km	kn	kñ	ks
m-	mp	mt	mk		mm	mn	mñ	ms
n-	np	nt	nk		nm	nn	nñ	ns
ñ-	ñp	ñt	ñk		ñm	ñn	ññ	ñs
s-	sp	st	sk		sm	sn	sñ	ss
r-	rp	rt	rk		rm	rn	rñ	rs
y-	yp	yt	yk		ym	yn	yñ	ys
w-	wp	wt	wk		wm	wn	wñ	ws
x-	xp	xt	xk		xm	xn	xñ	xs

Notes:

• Clusters in black are allowed in all positions.
• Clusters in green are permitted only word-medially, e.g. owñohu.
• Clusters in gray are permitted only word-finally, preceding an obligatory schwa, e.g. meimastə.
  • There are some exceptions to that one, however, including mostly inflected forms of nouns conforming to that rule. For example, a noun ippə needle has its plural form ippoi needles. (It is due to the analogical leveling. Some dialects employ a more archaic plural variant, imamau.)

Morphophonology

Adding several inflectional affixes causes preceding consonants to be mutated — this process is called lenition:

plain	m	n	ñ		p	t	k	s		w	x	y		r	h
mutated	w	l	x		m	n	ñ	r		h

Another morphophonological process involves vowels: monophthongs are mutated by diphthongization:

plain	i	ə	u	e	a	o
mutated	ei	oi	au	ea	ai	oa

Morphology

Pronouns

Personal pronouns

	1sg	1pl		2sg	2pl		3sg an	3sg inan	3pl an	3pl inan
N.	yə̀	yòiñtə		mau	mauñtə		mì	sai	mòañtə	na
G.	yòimə	yòiñə		maumə	mauñə		mài	sai	mòañə	nai
D.	yə̀ha	yòixaha		mauña	mauxaha		mìha	saima	mòaxaha	naha
L.	yòiwu	yòiñmu		mauwu	mauñmu		mèiwu	saiwu	mòañmu	naiwu
Ab.	yə̀wə	yòixawə		maun	mauxawə		mìwə	sain	mòaxawə	nawə
V.	yòiya	yòixaiya		mwoiya	mauxaiya		mèiya	sauya	mòaxaiya	naiya

Table of correlatives

dem. proximal	oi mì this one	oi sai this thing	oi this, here		oisaiw now	sàrai in that way
dem. distal	kaiyə mì that one	kaiyə sai that thing	kaiyə that, there		wihe then
interrogative	kmi who	ñə̀rai what	ñə̀ which	yaiyə where	ta when	ñòa how
relative	mèiw who	sauw what	mow which	koiw where	wiheaw when	sàrauw how
indefinite	mìhi someone	saiwi something	ñə̀hi some	yaiyəhi somewhere	tahi somewhen	koawi somehow
alternative	tmi somebody else	nàrai something else	nà other	nàiyə somewhere else	nàna another time	nàixoa in another way
universal	yàuñtə everybody	yàuna everything	yài all	yàimi everywhere	koi always	yàwə in every way
negative	mumo nobody	mauna nothing	mu no, none	muhaimi nowhere	muñoi never	muhawə in no way

The correlatives from the first two columns are declined as regular nouns, with an exception of yàuñtə, yàuna and mauna:

N.	yàuñtə everybody	yàuna everything	mauna nothing
G.	yàuñə	yàun	maun
D.	yàuñmu	yàuwu	mauwu

Nouns

Nouns have two numbers and three cases: nominative, genitive(-ablative) and dative(-locative).

There is also a separate definite paradigm.

Definite

The definite is created by adding wi before the noun.

Genitive and dative singular instead are formed by adding ai and oiwu, respectively, to an uninflected noun.

Singular indefinite

	monophthongs	diphthongs
G. sg	-wə	-n
D. sg	-ha	-wu

	-p	-t	-s	-k		-w	-x	-y	-h		-m	-n / -ñ
G. sg	-wə	-xə	-yə	-n		-wə	-xə	-yə	-n		-hoan	-hain
D. sg	-pmu	-tmu	-smu	-kmu		-wmu	-xmu	-ymu	-mu		-hoawu	-haiwu

	-eim / -eam	-ein / -ean -eiñ / -eañ	-oim / -aim	-oin / -ain -oiñ / -aiñ	-aum / -oam	-aun / -oan -auñ / -oañ
G. sg	-yoan	-yain	-oan	-ain	-woan	-wain
D. sg	-yoawu	-yaiwu	-oawu	-aiwu	-woawu	-waiwu

Nominative is unmarked.

Genitive is marked by:

• suffixing -wə after monophthongs
• suffixing -n after diphthongs
• changing final p t s w x y to wə xə yə
• changing final k h to n
• changing final m n ñ to oan ain ain
  • preceding ei ea are changed to y
  • preceding oi ai are deleted
  • preceding au oa are changed to w
  • monophthongs are followed by h

Dative is marked by:

• suffixing -ha after monophthongs
• suffixing -wu after diphthongs
• changing final p t k s to pmu tmu kmu smu
• changing final w x y h to wmu xmu ymu mu
• changing final m n ñ to oawu aiwu aiwu
  • preceding ei ea are changed to y
  • preceding oi ai are deleted
  • preceding au oa are changed to w
  • monophthongs are followed by h

Plural

	-i	-ə	-u	-e	-a	-o		-ei / -ea	-oi / -ai	-au / -oa
N. pl	-ei	-oi	-au	-ea	-ai	-oa		-yoi	-oi	-wau
G. pl	-ein	-oin	-aun	-ean	-ain	-oan		-yoin	-oin	-waun
D. pl	-eiwu	-oiwu	-auwu	-eawu	-aiwu	-oawu		-yoiwu	-oiwu	-wauwu

	-p	-t / -k	-s		-w	-x	-y / -h		-m	-n / -ñ
N. pl	-mau	-roi	-rei		-hau	-hoi	-hei		-wau	-‘oi
G. pl	-maun	-roin	-rein		-haun	-hoin	-hein		-waun	-‘oin
D. pl	-mauwu	-roiwu	-reiwu		-hauwu	-hoiwu	-heiwu		-wauwu	-‘oiwu

Nominative is marked by:

• changing final i ə u e a o to ei oi au ea ai oa
• changing final ei ea to yoi
• changing final oi ai to oi
• changing final au oa to wau
• replacing word-final p t k s with mau roi roi rei
• replacing word-final w x y h with hau hoi hei hei
• replacing word-final m n ñ with wau ‘oi ‘oi

Genitive is marked by attaching -n to the N. pl form.

Dative is marked by attaching -wu to the N. pl form.

Collective

Collective forms end in -ñtə in nominative, -ñə in genitive and -ñmu in dative. They behave syntactically as plural nouns, however they don't have a singular form.

N. coll.	-ñtə
G. coll.	-ñə
D. coll.	-ñmu

Examples

	aiwo human	aiwoañtə people (coll.)	yahai bone	xət wall	ñoam bull	worain boat
singular
N.	aiwo	-	yahai	xət	ñòam	worain
G.	aiwowə	-	yahain	xəxə	ñwòan	worain
D.	aiwoha	-	yahaiwu	xətmu	ñwòawu	woraiwu
plural
N.	aiwoa	aiwoañtə	yahoi	xəroi	ñòawau	worai‘oi
G.	aiwoan	aiwoañə	yahoin	xəroin	ñòawaun	worai‘oin
D.	aiwoawu	aiwoañmu	yahoiwu	xəroiwu	ñòawauwu	worai‘oiwu
singular def.
N.	wi aiwo	-	wi yahai	wi xət	wi ñòam	wi worain
G.	ai aiwo	-	ai yahai	ai xət	ai ñòam	ai worain
D.	oiwu aiwo	-	oiwu yahai	oiwu xət	oiwu ñòam	oiwu worain
plural def.
N.	wi aiwoa	wi aiwoañtə	wi yahoi	wi xəroi	wi ñòawau	wi worai‘oi
G.	wi aiwoan	wi aiwoañə	wi yahoin	wi xəroin	wi ñòawaun	wi worai‘oin
D.	wi aiwoawu	wi aiwoañmu	wi yahoiwu	wi xəroiwu	wi ñòawauwu	wi worai‘oiwu

Adpositions

All the adpositions govern nouns in genitive.

There are three neutral adpositions and eight locative adpositions.

Neutral adpositions

Neutral adpositions are uninflected:

• tauh near
• tusə around, outside
• toi against

Locative adpositions

Locative adpositions are inflected in three “orientations”: stative-lative, ablative and perlative:

	at ~ to	from	via
in, inside	poi	peiña	womoi
on, surface	pau	puha	wopu
above	saw	saha	woraw
below	xoina	xoilaha	wohoila
front	yòi	yə̀ha	wohə
back	anoi	anəha	wohanə
left	oim	oinaha	wohoina
right	sòim	sòinaha	ùroina

Verbs

Each verb has at most these forms:

• active participle, acting as the citation form and the imperative;
• non-past, past and conditional variants of the following:
  • active finite forms of singular animate, singular inanimate and plural;
  • passive participle, acting as impersonal or passive finite forms disregarding number and animacy.

Basic verbs

tak to be is the non-past copula.

ñoiya to be, there is is used elsewhere in the non-past tense. It has a negated counterpart: mwoiya.

pow and miw are the past and conditional counterparts.

participle	tak	ñoiya	mwoiya	pow	miw
singular animate	tañə	ñoiya	mwoiya	pohi	mihi
singular inanimate		ñoiyahə	mwoiyahə	pohu	mihu
plural	taktə	ñoit	mwoit	powtə	miwtə

Regular verbs

Single consonant stem

The stem can be either identical to the citation form (e.g. wotsəw to be caused by light, mok to feel, to smell) or given in the wordlist (e.g. meimas, meimek- to flow, kət, kəhet- to be dark, pau, paun- to go).

Additionally, past and conditional stems do always belong to this paradigm.

Singular animate:

• -i is added after labials, -ə elsewhere
• lenition is applied

Singular inanimate:

• -u is added after labials, -ə elsewhere
• lenition is applied

Plural:

• -tə added

Passive:

• -ə added

Past stem:

• lenition is applied
• -ow- is added

Conditional stem:

• stem-final t n are changed to r, else lenition is applied
• -u‘iw- is added after labials, -ə‘iw- elsewhere

active participle	wotsəw	mok	meimas	kət	pau
singular animate	wotsəhi	moñə	meimeñə	kəhenə	paulə
singular inanimate	wotsəhu	moñə	meimeñə	kəhenə	paulə
plural	wotsəwtə	moktə	meimektə	kəhettə	pauntə
passive	wotsəwə	mokə	meimekə	kəhetə	paunə
past stem	wotsəhow-	moñow-	meimeñow-	kəhenow-	paulow-
conditional stem	wotsəhu‘iw-	moñə‘iw-	meimeñə‘iw-	kəherə‘iw-	paurə‘iw-

Consonant cluster stem

The citation form usually ends with a schwa. The stem is always listed (e.g. yə̀pə, yə̀pm- to be lazy, owə, owñ- to be salty).

Singular animate:

• -i is added after labials, -ə elsewhere

Singular inanimate:

• -u is added after labials, -ə elsewhere

Plural:

• -ət added

Passive:

• -ə added

Past stem:

• -ow- is added

Conditional stem:

• stem-final t n are changed to s
• -u‘iw- is added after labials, -ə‘iw- elsewhere

active participle	yə̀pə	owə
singular animate	yə̀pmi	owñə
singular inanimate	yə̀pmu	owñə
plural	yə̀pmət	owñət
passive	yə̀pmə	owñə
past stem	yə̀pmow-	owñow-
conditional stem	yə̀pmu‘iw-	owñə‘iw-

Phantom consonant stem

A type of stems that have a final consonant appearing only in several forms. Apart from that the stem can be either identical to the citation form (e.g. mùhai(ñ) to be silent, worai(m) to travel by boat) or formed irregularly (e.g. sahətə, sahənau(m)- to tan [a hide], pmiw, pmiho(h)- to teach).

Singular animate:

• -i is added after labials, -ə elsewhere

Singular inanimate:

• -u is added after labials, -ə elsewhere

Plural:

• consonant disappears; -t is affixed

Passive:

• consonant disappears; -m is affixed

Past stem:

• lenition is applied
• -ow- is added

Conditional stem:

• stem-final n is changed to y
• -u‘iw- is added after labials, -ə‘iw- elsewhere

active participle	mùhai	worai	sahətə	pmiw
singular animate	mùhaiñə	woraimi	sahənaumi	pmihohə
singular inanimate	mùhaiñə	woraimu	sahənaumu	pmihohə
plural	mùhait	worait	sahənaut	pmihot
passive	mùhaim	woraim	sahənaum	pmihom
past stem	mùhaixow-	woraiwow-	sahənauwow-	pmihohow-
conditional stem	mùhaiñə‘iw-	woraimu‘iw-	sahənaumu‘iw-	pmihohə‘iw-

Vowel stem

The stem is the citation form (e.g. yə̀hamu to rule, saroimo to eat, kohaunə to cobble, ksə to think, kñəkmi to stuff animals). It always ends with a monophthong.

Singular animate:

• no affix

Singular inanimate:

• -hə is added after i e and ə a (preceded by s r y)
• -hu is added after u o ə a
• final ə a are labialized to u o before -hu

Plural:

• -t is affixed

Passive:

• i e are changed to ei ea
• ə a and u o are changed to au oa
• ə a preceded by s r y are changed to oi ai

Past stem:

• -‘ow- is added
• final ə a are labialized to u o (unless preceded by s r y)

Conditional stem:

• -‘iw- is added
• final ə a are labialized to u o (unless preceded by s r y)

active participle	yə̀hamu	saroimo	kohaunə	ksə	kñəkmi
singular animate	yə̀hamu	saroimo	kohaunə	ksə	kñəkmi
singular inanimate	yə̀hamuhu	saroimohu	kohaunuhu	ksəhə	kñəkmihə
plural	yə̀hamut	saroimot	kohaunət	ksət	kñəkmit
passive	yə̀hamau	saroimoa	kohaunau	ksoi	kñəkmei
past stem	yə̀hamu‘ow-	saroimo‘ow-	kohaunu‘ow-	ksə‘ow-	kñəkmi‘ow-
conditional stem	yə̀hamu‘iw-	saroimo‘iw-	kohaunu‘iw-	ksə‘iw-	kñəkmi‘iw-

Irregular verbs

active participle	we to have	xa to change	oi to say	yòi to live	sàhe to do	meina to do wrong
singular animate	wehi	xahə	eiñə	yòiñə	sàhe	meina
singular inanimate	wehə				sàhehə	meinohu
plural	wet	xat	eit	yòit	sàt	meit
passive	wem	xam	eim	yòim	sàm	meim
past stem	wehow-	xañow-	eixow-	yòixow-	sàhe‘ow-	meino‘ow-
conditional stem	wehi‘iw-	xahə‘iw-	eiyə‘iw- yoimiw-	yòiyə‘iw- yòimiw-	sàhe‘iw-	meino‘iw- myoamiw-

• yoimiw-, yòimiw- and myoamiw- are archaic dialectal variants.

There are also a few verbs without full inflection. They have only two forms: indicative and conditional:

• kahyea to be murdered brutally, conditional form: kahyeamiwə;
• mwai to be left, to remain, conditional form: mwaimiwə;
• sea to be offending, displeasing, conditional form: seamiwə.

Derivation

There are several derivational suffixes in Wihəs:

Core derivation

- (zero derivation from the passive form) — forms patient nouns from verbs, e.g.:

• pmiho(h)- to teach → pmihom learner
• yə̀narə to attach → yə̀naroi something attached; attachment

-ə ~ -h — forms agent nouns from verbs, e.g.:

• kuha to be to the west → kuhah westerner
• yə̀pm- to be lazy → yə̀pmə idler

Several other irregular patterns also exist, e.g. kñəkmi to stuff animals → kñəkmə taxidermist.

-u ~ -w — forms abstract nouns from concrete nouns and verbs, e.g.:

• mèami master → mèamiw superiority
• mèhean- to be blind → mèheanu blindness

Some instances of such nouns have fossilized irregular forms, e.g. sàiyəha to dine → sàiyəxu meal, dinner.

Gender derivation

-(m)ean (causes lenition) — forms feminine nouns, e.g.:

• yàmu ruler → yàmumean female ruler, queen
• yaim lover → yaiwean female lover

An equivalent suffix with a honorific meaning exists: -(m)yauñu, e.g. yàmu ruler → yàmumyauñu honorable queen.

-(m)eawo (causes lenition) — forms masculine nouns, e.g.:

• aiya singer → aiyameawo male singer
• yaim lover → yaiweawo male lover

An equivalent suffix with a honorific meaning exists: -(m)eaxu, e.g. yàmu ruler → yàmumeaxu honorable king.

Other nominal derivation

-(ə)wə (causes lenition) — forms names of animal cries, e.g.:

• tahə wolf → tahəwə wolf's howl
• we cat → wewə cat's meow (also irregular wehiwə)

-(ə)xñə (causes lenition) — forms names of places, e.g.:

• Wimo a Wihəs person → Wimoxñə Wihəs territory
• sàñoiñ- to cook → sàñoixəxñə kitchen

-ñtə — forms collective nouns (added to the plural form), e.g.:

• aiwo human → aiwoañtə people
• ñat brother (archaic) → ñaroiñtə brothers, brotherhood

Nouns formed this way don't have a singular form and are declined in a different way from other plural nouns.

-(oi)nu (causes lenition and diphthongization) — forms possessive nouns, e.g.:

• yàmu ruler → yàmaunu what belongs to the ruler; ruler's possessions
• saiyap potter → saiyamoinu what belongs to the potter; potter's tools

-(p)meayə — forms names of animal offspring, e.g.:

• we cat → wepmeayə kitten (also irregular wemeayə)
• nàt beaver → nàtmeayə young beaver

Numbers

Cardinal and ordinal numerals

Where the numerals appear in pairs, the one to the right represents the corresponding ordinal numeral. Otherwise they are the same.

1.	mohi · moayəhi	11.	mèamo · myòimo
2.	e · eayə	12.	mèhe · mèayəhe	20.	eñoi
3.	pai · peañ	13.	mèpə · mèmeañ	30.	pñoi
4.	nàhi · nàiyəhi	14.	màila · mèala	40.	nàñoi
5.	nòamo · nwòimo	15.	màiloamo · màilwoimo	50.	nòamoñoi
6.	nàhe · nàiyəhe	16.	màilahe · màilaiyəhe	60.	nàheñoi
7.	nòpə · nòmeañ	17.	màilopə · màilomeañ	70.	nòpñoi
8.	aila · eala	18.	mèna · mèheala	80.	ailañoi
9.	ailoamo · ailwoimo	19.	mènoamo · mènwoimo	90.	ailoamoñoi
10.	koi(we)			100.	yə̀n · yə̀hein

Numbers 21÷99 can be formed in one of two ways:

• A corresponding numeral from the 11÷19 column has its initial m- / màil- replaced with w- / mn- and then is attached the respective “tens” numeral, e.g. pñoi 30 + màiloamo 15 → pñoimnoamo 35 [!].
• A more regular way involves attaching an unchanged 1÷9 numeral, e.g. pñoi 30 + nòamo 5 → pñoi-nòamo 35.

Fractional numerals

Regular fractions are created by prefixing t- ~ sə(h)-, often causing lenition.

yəs half is irregular.

		11.	tmeamo
2.	yəs	12.	tmehe	20.	səheñoi
3.	səmai	13.	tmepə	30.	səpñoi
4.	tnahi	14.	tmaila	40.	tnañoi
5.	tnoamo	15.	tmailoamo	50.	tnoamoñoi
6.	tnahe	16.	tmailahe	60.	tnaheñoi
7.	tnopə	17.	tmailopə	70.	tnopñoi
8.	səna	18.	tmena	80.	sənañoi
9.	sənoamo	19.	tmenoamo	90.	sənoamoñoi
10.	səñoi(we)			100.	səhən

Notes:

• In some dialects initial tmail-, tme- of the teens are replaced with more transparent səñoimn-, səñoiwe-.

Syntax

Noun phrase

The word order of noun phrases is:

• (determiner) — (quantifier) — (attributive) — head noun — (genitive) — (adpositional phrase) — (relative clause)

Articles occupy the slot of the determiners:

• oi nòamo yàhə ñoi these five beautiful women → wi nòamo yàhə ñoi the five beautiful women
• nà taiwu for another student → oiwu tai for the student

A quantifier can be simply a numeral (e kau two rabbits), a strict quantifier (sàra mèaya most birds), an attributive verb used for quantification (səka tmei sərəwu more new visitors) or even a measure phrase (pai ahihu pumi piheah three cups of good tea/tonic).

Attributive can be either a verb in its citation form (active participle) or its passive form:

• komaunu ñoiyə an attractive girl (cf. komaunu to attract, ñoiyə komaulohi a girl attracts)
• komaulowə ñoiyə an attracted girl (cf. ñoiyə komaulowə a girl is attracted)

A genitive possessive modifier can be conditionally moved to the det/art slot — but only if it comprises only one word and there is no other determiner or article:

• wi noirə yòimə the boyfriend of mine → yòimə noirə my boyfriend
• wi wome kaiyə nə̀hə aiwowə the snake of that old man → **kaiyə nə̀hə aiwowə wome that old man's snake

An exception is when two single word possessives are joined:

• yòiñə soi mauñə wohaiñu our and your freedom

A 3rd person pronoun can take place of a noun:

• wihehe ñarə a wise boy → wihehe mì a wise one
• yài aiwoa all men → yài mòañtə all, everybody (cf. yàuñtə everybody)

In the vocative, however, 2nd person is used more commonly:

• maumohi mì tall one → maumohi mwoiya oh, you tall one

Cases

There are six cases in Wihəs, although only three are distinct in nouns.

Nominative is used for both subjects and objects. (The morphosyntactical alignment is neutral in nouns — it is marked with word order and verbal agreement, though.) It is also the citation form of nouns.

• Mì tañə we. It is a cat.
• Mì tañə mèanə. It is a dog.
• Mèanə moawe we. A dog chases a cat.

Genitive is used mainly for relational and possessive constructions:

• paunu ñoiwewə a madman's home
• ñoiw ñoiyəwə a girl's beauty

It is also used with adpositions:

• tusə yòimə around me
• peiña ai menə from the town

Dative is used mostly for denoting the recipient/beneficent in the role of an indirect object:

• sai sai yə̀ha give it to me
• mì nə̀nsa‘ohi mauxaha he lied to you all

Locative is used to mark the exact location or proximity:

• yə̀ sàhe sai yòiwu I will do it at my place
• ñoiya ehə eaxə naiwu there is much space in them

For nouns, adpositional phrases or (rarely) dative forms are used instead:

• sai pohu oiwu yəy it was near the neighbor / at the neighbor's
• mòañtə pukñu‘owtə pau ai oañu I slept on the roof

Ablative is used to mark the movement from:

• məñi sai yə̀wə take it from me
• sai wohoilo‘ohu nawə it came from them

Similarly, it is replaced with nouns in genitive or adpositional phrases:

• məñi sai (oi) woañoin take it from (these) soldiers
• sai wohoilo‘ohu peiñ’ai wuraiw it came from the magic

Finally, vocative is used in addressing the listener. For nouns, the nominative form is used.

• mwoiya hey, you
• yòimə wuhə my son

Adpositional phrases

An adpositional prase is constructed from one of the eleven adpositions and a noun (or a noun phrase) in genitive. They act predominantly as prepositions:

• poi ai weñow at home, in the house

Sometimes, however, for stylistic reasons, the order can be reversed:

• ai weñow poi in the house

Sometimes, the noun is ommited and the sole adposition is acting as an adverbial modifier:

• yə̀ pukñə poi oi weñowə I sleep in this building → yə̀ pukñə poi (oi) I sleep (here) inside
• wi əhə oim nà sai the hand on the left of the other one → wi əhə oim the left hand ~ the hand on the left

In the rapid speech many adposition create contracted forms with the definite genitive article ai, in particular:

• poi ai in the and pau ai on the having a shared variant p’ai at the;
• adpositions ending in ə a undergoing ellision, e.g. tusə ai → tus’ai, yə̀ha ai → yə̀h’ai &c.

Simple sentences

The basic clause syntax is:

• subject — verb — (object) — (other modifiers)

I some cases, a modifier can be placed before the subject:

• Oisaiw yə̀ nàiya sai. Now I see it.

Other modifiers can be indirect objects (noun phrases in oblique, e.g. dative), adpositional phrases or verbs in attributive forms (used as adverbs):

• Mau məñi‘ohi sai yə̀wə. You took it from me.
• Mòañtə wiheimo‘iwtə ainə. They would possibly return. ~ They could return.

The clause is negated using the particle mu before the verb.

• Yə̀ nàiya sai. I see it.
• Yə̀ mu nàiya sai. I can't see it.

The verb ñoiya has a separate negated counterpart mwoiya:

• Ñoiya kahe. There is a sheep.
• Mwoiya kahe. There is no sheep.

Copula and existential clauses

There are two verbs acting as copula: tak and ñoiya.

tak is used to connect two nouns or noun phrases:

• oi poaxa tañə we this pet is a cat
• yə̀ tañə peayəs I am a fool

With genitive and locative phrases, however, ñoiya is used:

• mì ñoiya oi he is here
• kaiyə na ñoit yòimə those are mine

ñoiya can be used on its own, meaning to exist:

• wi xəha ñoiyahə the sun exists

ñoiya is used with other types of existential clauses, as well, with the main noun phrase following the verb:

• ñoiyahə xəha there is a sun
• poi ai weñow ñoiya ohu in the house there is a sword

Possessive clauses are formed that way. They consist of the possessor in genitive, the existential verb and the main noun phrase (the possessee). The verb agrees with the latter:

• yòimə ñoiya xoawi I have a daughter
• yòimə ñoit yàhoa I have children

Questions

Polar questions are made by adding ñə̀ to the end of a clause:

• Wi ñoiwu aunansahə. The sky is grey.
  Wi ñoiwu aunansahə ñə̀? Is the sky grey?

The positive reply is tak.

• Sai koiñuhu ñə̀? Is it wrong?
  Tak, sai koiñuhu. Yes, it is wrong.

The negative reply is mu.

• Mau koñaulə yə̀ ñə̀? Will you marry me?
  Mu, yə̀ mu koñaulə mau. No, I will not marry you.

Imperatives

Imperatives are created using an uninflected verb:

• Yòiñtə pau. Let's go. (Cf. Yòiñtə pauntə. We go.)

In vowel stems it means that the imperative and the singular animate indicative forms are identical:

• Mì pakanə. Let him/her work. or He/she works.

In the 2nd person singular, the subject is usually omitted:

• Kaiñənaiw ñàsohau. Undress completely.

Complex sentences

Conjunctions

The three basic correlative conjunctions are:

• soi and, so, therefore
• yòi but, and
• woña or

The basic relative conjunction is:

• ñəp that, which

Complement clauses

Complement clauses are constructed using the conjunction ñəp:

• Yə̀ nàiya, ñəp mau nòwe. I see that you are happy.

It can be used to create causative sentences:

• Mau maumi, ñəp maumə aiña peiñə. You make that your father laughs. ~ You make your father laugh.

Relative clauses

In Wihəs there is a class of relative pronouns used to form complex sentences:

mèiw who

• Yə̀ saraha aiwo, mèiw kahəno‘ihi mauña. I know a man that will help you.

sauw what

• Sai knohehohu yə̀ha, yə̀ nàiya sauw. I like what I see. ~ It pleases me what I see.

koiw where

• Yòiñtə mwai, koiw yòiñtə womaumət ainə. We stay where we can rest.

wiheaw when

• Yə̀ ñoiya tauh maumə, wiheaw sai sauwu. I will be with you when it happens.

sàrauw how

• Sai mu knohehohohu mòaxaha, sàrauw mau eixohi kaiyə sai. They didn't like the way you said that. ~ It didn't please them how you said that.

There is also a relative determiner mow.